'Tis a wee egg * that Wanda laid * in the wee little barn * at TisaWee Farm. A Courier Virtual Village community blog maintained by Chris Cooperrider. Views listed here do not represent those of The Courier newspaper or any Findlay Publishing Co. entity.

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March 17, 2011

The chickies are coming....

And pretty darned quickly! I stopped by the co-op to order my chicks and find out when delivery dates were and I thought they said April 27. That gave me about 6 weeks to get ready. Since they will live in a Rubbermaid tote in the kitchen for at least a month....at least until they don't need 90 degree temps and they have some feathers.... that gives me time to build a new chicken tractor or get the "big girl coop" ready. If you remember, that coop has blown over twice now, and the last time it ruined the door. I need to get it all cleaned out and a new door made. Anyway....plenty of time!

Today, as I looked over my to-do list, I noticed my receipt for the baby chicks. It says "arriving April 7". Not 27. Which means.....three more weeks, not six!!!! Oh, wow!

I'm excited, though. This year, I ordered Golden Comets. They are supposedly as docile as the Buff Opingtons I've always had, but a smaller chicken. More food-efficient. They still lay huge, brown eggs, though. I haven't had any chickens at TisaWee for over a year - ever since I figured out that I wasn't going to be living there over winter (all the girls went to new homes). I'm hoping these will be the last girls I have to buy.

These are also "sex-link" chickens, which means that I will know whether they are males or females by their color, even as day-old chicks. No more mix-ups. I hate buying four chicks thinking I'm getting all females, and then finding out, four months later when two of them start growing combs and crowing, that I had two males and two females instead. I'll know just by looking at them.

Hmmmm.... I wonder if I shouldn't buy a rooster, too? I hate the idea of feeding something that doesn't pull its own weight, but a rooster would help take care of the girls. And I'd be able to hatch some of the eggs later to replenish the stock when the girls get older. It'd be nice to start him off with the flock, instead of adding a chick in later and worrying that he'd be picked to death by the bigger, older chickens. And I want to raise him from a baby so that I know he'll be tame. No more roosters chasing ME!!!! <grin>

I've got the sweet potatoes in water to sprout, seeds started in a tiny greenhouse (tomatoes, cukes, squash, and pumpkins), and the future chickens being incubated as we speak. Spring is on its way!